i didn't want to like this....

TL;DR

Perplexity Computer surprised a self-described AI tinkerer by delivering complex apps from single prompts, exposing his habit of over-engineering tools instead of using them.

Key Points

• 1.Perplexity Computer is a $200/month cloud AI agent with 19 frontier models. It uses a meta-router to select an orchestrator model (typically Claude Opus 4.6), decomposes tasks, and spins up isolated Firecracker MicroVMs (2 vCPUs, 8GB RAM, booting in under 125ms) per subtask.
• 2.The creator built a fully functional Blockbuster POS simulator in one prompt in ~14 minutes. The system researched Roblox, found a Blockbuster 3D game, retrieved the CSR handbook, and delivered a downloadable or shareable HTML site.
• 3.A gaming website for his kids — previously a weeks-long failed project — was built in one session. It included multiple games (Plug Dash, Neon Racer, an 8-bit Exit 8), login, leaderboards, and was auto-deployed to his VPS with scheduled hourly improvements.
• 4.Scheduled 'cron jobs' let the system autonomously improve apps over time. He set tasks like 'improve this every hour' or 'check my email every 5 minutes,' though the cost forced him to dial back from hourly to every 4 hours.
• 5.The tool researched a real cult (Yellow Deli in Kyoto) and produced a corkboard-style investigation dashboard. The 27-minute task cost 1,700 credits and surfaced commune locations, origins from Australia, and founder details that basic Perplexity search could not.
• 6.Cost is the major barrier: he burned through ~82,500 credits (10k plan + 35k bonus + 37.5k purchased). Perplexity pays API prices as a middleman for models like Opus 4.6, passing costs to users, and he doubts the pricing will ever be competitive long-term.